Muffin Tin Mac Cheese Food

MAC & CHEESE CUPS (CUPCAKES)

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray your muffin tin with nonstick spray.
• Over low heat, melt butter. Once melted, add breadcrumbs, and garlic powder. Continuously stir crumbs until they are lightly browned. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil, and add your macaroni. Cook for about 8-10 minutes or until al dente. You do not want to overboil your noodles or they will be gummy.
• Remove pasta from heat and strain out excess water. Return pasta to the pan. Add the butter, milk, spices, cheeses, and egg. Mix until cheese is melted and everything is evenly combined.
• Using an ice cream scooper, fill coated muffin tins with macaroni and cheese. Sprinkle on an even amount of panko crumbs to each muffin.
• Bake cups for 25-30 minutes. Cups will be golden brown and feel formed to the touch.
• Allow cups to cool for at least 15 minutes before carefully popping them out.

MUFFIN TIN MAC & CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook macaroni until just tender, 5 minutes. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
• To bowl, add butter and egg and stir until butter is melted and egg is thoroughly coating noodles. Add onion, garlic, and mustard powders, then pour in milk and cream cheese and stir until combined. Add 1 1/2 cups each cheddar and fontina and stir until macaroni are completely coated.
• Butter a 12-cup muffin tin and spoon mixture into cups. Top with remaining cheddar and fontina.
• In a small bowl, stir together panko and olive oil and season with salt. Top mac and cheese with panko mixture and season with pepper.
• Bake until the cups feel firm and cheese is golden, 30 minutes. Let cool in muffin tin for 10 minutes, then run a knife along the edge of each to loosen.
• Garnish with parsley and serve.

MAKE-AHEAD MUFFIN TIN MAC & CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350° F. Generously butter cups of muffin pan. Set aside.
• Cook macaroni in salted boiling water for 7 minutes. Drain in colander. Transfer to large mixing bowl.
• Add butter and cream cheese to hot macaroni. Stir to melt butter and cream cheese and evenly coat macaroni.
• Add milk and egg; stir to evenly coat macaroni.
• Add dry mustard, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper; stir to combine.
• Add 1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese and 1-1/2 cups Fontina cheese; stir to combine.
• Spoon macaroni mixture into muffin pan. Top with reserved cheddar cheese and Fontina cheese.
• Mix Panko bread crumbs with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of Panko bread crumb mixture on top of macaroni cups.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until tops are golden brown and bubbly, and macaroni is set.
• Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack to continue cooling.
• May be served hot or cold, refrigerated and reheated, or frozen and reheated.
• Yield: 12 Make Ahead Muffin Tin Mac & Cheese.

MAC AND CHEESE MUFFINS

Steps:

• Spray a 12-cup muffin tin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of bread crumbs into each muffin cup; set remaining bread crumbs aside. Gently shake pan to distribute the crumbs over the entire bottom and partially up the sides of each muffin cup.
• Cook macaroni in salted water; drain.
• While macaroni cooks, prepare cheese sauce. -- Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in flour. Return to heat and gradually whisk in milk. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring. Boil gently for about one minute, stirring constantly, until sauce is thickened.
• Reduce heat to medium-low. Add shredded cheese 1/2 cup at a time, stirring after each addition until cheese is fully melted and incorporated.
• Add cooked macaroni to cheese sauce; stir to coat macaroni thoroughly.
• Spoon about 1/2 cup macaroni and cheese mixture into each muffin tin cup, filling the cups completely. Sprinkle about 1/8 teaspoon of remaining bread crumbs on the top of each mac & cheese muffin.
• Bake at 350℉ for 18-20 minutes until tops are lightly golden browned.
• Let stand in the pan for 10 minutes. Then run a knife around the edge of each muffin to loosen. Use a fork to lift muffins out of the pan and place on a serving plate.
• Muffin Tin Mac & Cheese can easily be prepared in advance, with a couple of options: 1) Fill muffin cups with mac & cheese mixture, cover and refrigerate overnight, and bake the next day when needed. Just increase the baking time by about 5-8 minutes to account for the muffins going into the oven cold. Or, 2) Finish the muffins through the final baking step, and then reheat. To reheat, pop the muffins back into a 350℉ for about 10 to 12 minutes.
• Or FREEZE the mac & cheese muffins to make them even more in advance. Fully bake the muffins and freeze them in an airtight container. At serving time, reheat frozen muffins at 350℉ for about 20 minutes or until heated through.
• When serving as a main part of the meal (like alongside a bowl of soup), plan on 2 mac & cheese muffins per serving. When served as a side dish as part of a larger meal, plan on 1 or 2 muffins per serving -- depending on your eaters, of course!

HASH BROWN MAC AND CHEESE CUPS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick spray.
• Divide the hash browns between the muffin tin cups and firmly press into the base and up the sides of each to create a cup shape. Bake until golden around the edges, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook the macaroni in a large pot of salted boiling water according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
• Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the milk and whisk constantly until the milk thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and add the salt, cayenne and nutmeg. Slowly fold in the Gruyere and Cheddar and stir until the cheeses are melted, about 2 minutes. Stir in the macaroni.
• Divide the macaroni among the hash brown cups. Bake until the tops of the cups are golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and combine with the breadcrumbs.
• Remove the mac and cheese from the oven, top with the breadcrumbs and bake until the breadcrumbs are golden brown, about 5 more minutes. Top with chives.

MAC AND CHEESE MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• For the panko mix: Mix the panko, Parmesan, olive oil and garlic together and set aside.
• For the mac and cheese: Cook the macaroni according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
• In the meantime, melt the butter in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the milk and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens. Reduce the heat to low and add the Worcestershire and salt to taste. Slowly fold in the Gruyere, Cheddar and goat cheese and heat through until all the cheese is melted, about 10 minutes. Fold the cooked macaroni into the cheese mixture.
• Spray mini-muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray and dust with the panko mix. Put the muffin pans in the oven and bake until the panko is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Remove the pans and lower the temperature to 350 degrees F. Carefully fill the cups the rest of the way with the mac and cheese, packing tightly. Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle the tops with the panko mix and continue baking until the tops are golden brown, about 5 minutes more.
• Let the muffins cool before removing them from the pan. Repeat with the remaining macaroni and cheese and panko mixture.

MAC AND CHEESE MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F Spray a 12-well muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
• In a sauce pan, melt butter over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour, mustard, and nutmeg, and whisk vigorously until thick and beige in color. Add milk, Tabasco (if using), and garlic and bring to just below a boil, whisking constantly, until thick.
• Reduce heat to medium and add cheese, one small handful at a time, whisking until fully melted before adding the next handful. When fully melted, remove from heat.
• In a heat-safe bowl, beat egg and egg white until combined. Whisking vigorously and constantly, drizzle cheese sauce into egg.
• Add pasta and spinach to cheese sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Divide evenly between muffin cups and bake 10-15 minutes until tops are brown. Let cool 5 minutes before removing from cups.

MAC & CHEESE BACON BITES

Steps:

• Cook the pasta for 4 minutes less than the package instructions. Drain and set aside, reserving 1⁄4 cup of the pasta cooking water.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter and then add the flour. Whisk together, cooking until the flour resembles wet sand and begins to smell nutty and fragrant. Add the milk, whisking until there is no lumps. Bring to a boil and cook for one minute, stirring often.
• Remove from heat and stir in the cheese. Season generously with pepper and add salt to taste (this will depend on the saltiness of your cheese.) Add the pasta and fold together until the pasta is coated, add 1 tablespoon of the pasta cooking water, if necessary, to loosen.
• Lightly grease a muffin tin and line each cup with a piece of precooked bacon to come up sides of cup. Spoon mac and cheese into each of the cups and then top with some Italian panko breadcrumbs.
• Bake for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Remove and allow to cool 5-10 minutes to settle into cups before removing and serving.